Aspire Food Group Job Vacancy For Animal Nutrition Research Technologist

 Aspire Food Group is an international social enterprise dedicated to the sustainable practice of farming edible insects. With offices in the US and Ghana, Aspire seeks to farm locally desired insects as a way to address food insecurity. In Ghana, Aspire farms the palm weevil larva, a local delicacy that has been traditionally harvested. In addition, Aspire Ghana has also taught several hundred farmers in Southern and Central Ghana to be able to farm their own larva as a source of household animal protein and as an opportunity for increased income. Aspire Ghana seeks to rapidly scale its production, co-develop packaged products, take advantage of export opportunities to other West African countries, support its network of farmers to scale their production and to advance research on the palm weevil larvae.

Role description: Aspire Food Group Ghana is looking for a driven, detail- oriented, analytical research technologist who would be part of a team that focuses on designing, executing and analyzing feed experiments, taking into consideration nutritional requirements of the larvae and aimed at increasing the efficiency of current palm weevil larvae rearing techniques. The majority of the role would take place in Aspire’s test lab and in a farm setting, the selected candidate must be comfortable working in these conditions. While the selected candidate will be supported by a strong team, he/she must be comfortable taking initiative and supporting his/her own projects. While the role focuses primarily on feed research, the selected candidate will have to develop an understanding of the biology of the insect and insect ecology over time. The associate must be able to transport themselves to the on-site location of Aspire Ghana’s farm on Mango Road, KNUST Campus on a daily basis.

Tasks/duties:

• Evaluate chemical and nutritional value of larval feed
• Formulate diets in line with the organizations KPIs such as maximizing growth and creating competitive advantage
• Prepare feed formulations and monitor their performance to meet quality criteria established by the R&D team and other departments
• Investigate best storage conditions for feed
• Explore lower cost/alternate feed substrates and feed formulations
• Set-up and execute experiments related to larval feed/nutrition
• Use computer software to conduct research and generate reports that can be clearly understood
• Understand feed interactions with external factors such as temperature, humidity and infrastructure modifications
• Record and analyze data related to feed experiments
• Present experimental findings to the rest of the team
• Share responsibilities for laboratory management
• Supervise a team of research technicians
• Coordinate with external labs
• Support the procurement of lab materials and lab equipment
• Contribute to budget creation and anticipate resource needs to reach targeted goals
• As Aspire is a growing organization, tasks/duties and responsibilities are subject to evolve over time.
• Develop feed quality control protocols and procedures
• Identify feed additives for optimum feed performance

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Requisite Skills:

• Bachelor’s level (required) or higher degree in Animal Nutrition, or any related field with relevant research experience in food, feed or animal nutrition.
• Relevant work or internship experience is considered a very strong asset
• Excellent record keeping and documentation skills
• Ability to design, observe and make appropriate conclusions for research experiments related to feed
• Must be able to troubleshoot to achieve organizational goals
• Basic lab analytical skills (eg; proper sampling techniques, measuring pH, titrations, reading scales, calibrating equipment, etc)
• Scientific and working proficiency in spoken and written English
• Highly proficient in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Experienced with conducting statistical analyses on Excel
• Diligent, punctual, hardworking
• Excellent communication skills; familiar with quick & responsive email communication
• Can be highly responsive to feedback and constructive criticism
• Manage multiple projects and deadlines at a time
• Work under little supervision
• Works very well with others, with people from various backgrounds

Start Date: As soon as possible

Compensation: Commensurate with experience

Benefits: Mobile allowance, health insurance after a 3-month probation period